Cargo numbers nearly reached record-breaking level

The amount of cargo that travelled through the Port of Helsinki remained at a good level, although the decrease in coal transport could be seen in the total cargo traffic. Unitized cargo traffic remained strong, with a slight focus on imports.

The Group’s total cargo traffic was 14.4 million tonnes, which came down by 2% from the record-breaking year.

The three largest trade partners in terms of tonnes were the same as the previous year: Estonia, Germany and The Netherlands. The cargo traffic towards Tallinn amounted to 4.5 million tonnes (+2.3%).

The several docked Estonia traffic vessels in January, the general slowness of economic growth and the market conflicts in November all had a negative impact on the traffic numbers.

On the other hand, Eckerö Line’s new Finbo Cargo, which transports both cargo and passengers with cars started operating between Vuosaari and Muuga, Tallinn, in June, had a positive effect on the numbers. As this route grew stronger, it also helped enable the steering of heavy traffic from the city centre harbours to Vuosaari. Read more

Cargo traffic

Tonnes	2 017	2 018	2019	Change% 19/18
Unitized cargo	11 884 000	12 012 000	11 721 000	0.5%
Import	5 527 000	5 452 000	5 422 000	-0.6%
Export	6 359 000	6 215 000	6 300 000	1.1%
Bulk traffic	2 117 000	1 980 000	1 171 000	-13.3%
Break bulk		890 000	772 000	-13.2%
Foreign traffic	14 002 000	14 531 000	14 270 000	-1.8%
Coastal traffic	244 000	180 000	149 000	-17.3%
TOTAL CARGO TRAFFIC	14 246 000	14 711 000	14 419 000	-2.0%
Containers, TEU	491 000	510 000	530 000	3.9 %
Trucks, trailers and other, pcs	587 000	590 000	601 000	-0.4%

 

Container traffic remains strong: it accounted for 36.1% of unitized cargo. Container traffic in 2019 totalled 533,810 TEU* (+3.9%), i.e. 4.2 million tonnes +4.3%.

As for trucks and trailers, 600,600 units (-0.4%) travelled via the Port of Helsinki, which equals 7.5 million tonnes of cargo (-1.3%).

The percentage trucks and trailers accounted for of the unitized cargo transported via the Port of Helsinki was 64.3%.

Dry bulk traffic

The bulk product traffic via the Port of Helsinki consists of foreign and domestic coal, sand and construction material deliveries as well as pulp transported as break bulk.

The amount of bulk product traffic in the Port of Helsinki Group was 1.2 million tonnes (-20.3%) in 2019.
Coal is imported as dry bulk for Helen Oy via the Port. During the year, the amount of transported coal decreased by more than 200,000 tonnes. With new energy solutions, the use of coal and coal transports are excepted to continue their decline.

The amount of break bulk in total was around 770,000 tonnes (-13%).

Port of Loviisa

The major exports of the Port of Loviisa, a subsidiary of the Port of Helsinki, are timber and anthracite. The total cargo traffic through the Port of Loviisa was 795,000 tonnes, which was 5% more than the previous year. Foreign cargo traffic totalled 749,000 tonnes, of which import was 186,000 tonnes (-6.5%) and export 563,000 tonnes (+1%). The Port of Loviisa is also used as a domestic inland terminal for grain transports, for example. The amount of domestic cargo traffic was 46,000 tonnes.

Kantvik

Traffic at the Kantvik south quay belonging to the Port of Helsinki decreased by 27.5% and totalled 226,000 tonnes. Kantvik Harbour serves the nearby industry, and the goods passing through the harbour are mostly raw materials. Nearly 98% of the traffic was import.

Inkoo Shipping bought the port company operating Kantvik Harbour in August 2019. Operations will continue under the name Kantvik Shipping.

* TEU = twenty-foot equivalent unit

Traffic in Vuosaari harbour

	2017	2018	2019
Containers, TEU	491 000	510 000	533 000
Trailers and trucks	205 000	224 000	235 000
Ship visits	2 075	2 100	2 354
Passengers	188 000	187 000	271 000